Metal door construction



March 21, 1933.

F. DITCHFIELD METAL DOOR CON STRUCTI ON Oniginal Filed Jun 18, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 21, 1933. l F. DITCHFIELD 1,902,546

METAL DOOR CONSTRUCTION Original Filed June 18, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet -2 @y Mw@ three panels or sheets suitably rigidified by '.1

Patented Mar. 21, `1933r` 1,902,say 1 'i lI INITEI) STATES PAT-ENT 4ciu?ics;A-]

FRANK DITCHFIELD, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR V'IO'IHE YOUNGS'IOWN 'ElVE-Ii-ViLv DOOR COMPANY, OF' CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION 0F OHIO.

iuE'rAi'.. Doon coNstrRUcTIon originai application inea mie 1s, 1930,

This invention relates to improvements in metal door constructions, land the present application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 461,976, for car con-V struction, filed June`18, 1930.v

house cars, the doors are generally-made of integrally formed indentations or corrugations and edgeV reinforcing elements.k The dies required for corrugating or indenting the sheets ai'e necessarily large and expensive. The sizes of door openings for lbox cars, automobile cars 'and the like vary vin4V height for the cars "of diiferent'railroads, thus necessitating corresponding variations for the over-all height ofthe doors used tov close said openings.

Heretofore, to obtain different height doors with a plurality of corrugated panels,v

it has been customary'to vary the widthof the fiat marginal portions used to form an ordinary plane overlapped joint. In carrying out such practice, it is evident that the spacing' of the. adjacent Vcorrugations of the two overlapped panels will vary and hence the strength of the overlapped joint area will likewise vary. The greater the spacing between adjacent corrugations of two overlapped panels, the weaker the joint area Vand the more readily the panels may be bent or distorted, this weakness being accentuated as the total over-all height ofthe door is increased.

One object of my invention is to provide a joint between' panels or `sheets of a multiple panel sheet metal door such that the over-all height ofthe Vdoor may be varied within reasonable limits without the necessityv of changing the dies for incorporating the strengthening corrugations or other in-V dentations, which joint will retain the same strength regardless ofthe over-all height of the door.

More specifically, an object of my inven-` tion isl to provide in a sheet metal door, par-v ticularly adapted for railway cars and hav ing horizontal and'vertical Vcorrugations incorporated therein, a box girder joint betweenthe adjacent secured horizontal mar- V gins of the-.several panels or j' sheets,`- which boiglgirder formation increasesdin areafin accordance with increasesin'over-all height of the door`Y and vice versa softhattlfiejoint willv preserve kvthe necessary* rigiditylandV "strength, notwithstanding variationsl in theM spacing of the adj acent' horizontal corrugagk j tions of each pair'of panels or sheets.V Y Y A still further object of the invention 'is' to provide aljoint as indicated in the prelOther objects of the ii'iventionwilhmore ceding paragraph, which is obtainable with-V clearlyfappear from the description 'and claims hereinafter followingf In the drawingsforming` afpart specification, Figure 1 is afront, elevational view of a portion of aside of a house car this showingy myVV improvements incorporated f therein. Figure `2 is a vertical, sectional view, upon "an enlarged scale, corresponding to the section line 2-2 of Figure 1, parts being broken out in order to better accommodate the figure on'the sheet. VFigure 3" isa horizontal, sectional view, upon an enlarged scale, corresponding to the section liney 3-3 of Figure 1 and illustrating more particular-V ly the construction atthe front edge of the eeA door. And Figure 4 isa view' similar to Figure 3, corresponding-to the ,sectionflin'e 4 4 of'Figure 1, and illustrating more par* ticularly the construction at the rear edge of the door. p f

In said drawings, Va portion of the side wall sheathing is indicated at 10, and the usual side dooropening is shown` as defined by side posts'll and '12, lintel 13, andthresh# n old plate 14. The lintel 13, as shown, constitutes a portion of thevusual Z-bar side plate, to 'the outer depending flange of which is secured an upper guide 15 for the door, said guidell havinga depending` outer flange 16 .received within ',U-shaped clips 17, secured to the Ytop edge of thedoor, as shown in` 4Figure 2. i

eoY

, Each ofthe posts 11 anfd12isof generallyl Z-section, with the outer flange thereof,

however,turnedback, as indicated at 18and 19, respectively, the turned back flange 18 constituting one of the elements cooperating to provide the rear edge seal, as lhereinafter described. To each of the posts 11 and 12 are secured the usual wood fillers 20--20 and the inner sheathing of the car is indicated at 21. The threshold 14 engages the edges ofthe floor boards 22, which are supported on the usual underframe, of which the channel side sill 23, only, is indicated in Figure 2.V The door which l have chosen for illus` tration, is of the sheet metal type and prefertop'horizontal corrugation 29 merging with the .vertical corrugations, and a'bottom horizontal' corrugation 30, the latter being minated inwardly of the vertical vcorruga! tions, so as to leave` suitablevrlat spaces'or' j securing of the roller brackets 314-31.

Merging with the Vertical corrugations 27 and 28 are a plurality of horizontally e2'- y tending'corrugations 32-32, aplurality of such corrugations being incorporated in each of the panels as shown. e Y l The upper horizontal corrugation 29 is e braced by a bridging strip 33 secured by Vthe front door post.

riveting or'welding to the panel sheet at points both above and below the'cor'rugation, asshownbest in Figure 2. .The lower horif zontal corrugation 30 is similarly braced by al bridging plate 34, as indicated in Figures 1 and 2, said plate being` extended beyond ythe end of the corrugation 30 so as tov provide a double ets 31. f y A'The vertical corrugations 27 andr 28 are braced or rigidified by stiffeners 35V, which lit within'the panel corrugations, as best in# dicated in Figure 4, each of said stilleners 35 being secured to the main panel rsheet-s by ply opposite" the roller brackrivets. Y-

The front edgesealing arrangement for door is best shown in Figure 3. Secured to the multiple-ply fiat marginal front edge of the door and extending the full height thereof, is a U-shaped sealing element 38, the opening or jawv of which faces toward I The depth of said element 38 willv approximate the over-all thickness or depth of the door proper, as shown. Secured to the backturned flange 19v of the front door post 12 is a vertically extending, cooperable sealing element 39, of generally angular cross section, with one flange 40 thereof extending outwardly or normal to mately midway thereof, is a verticallyk extending langejor rib 41 of tapered, cross section, so locatedk as to readily enter the rivets 4G which secure the'A element 43,

On the side of they e [inner facel ofthe multiple-ply rear marginal edge of the door. Said Velement 43 has a flange 44 which is extended inwardly and forwardly so as to enter behind theliange 18 and form a seal therewith, as vwill be evident from an inspection of F igure`4; To protect the sealing element 43 from injury andalso to additionally strengthen or brace the vertical rear edge of the door, anangle 45 may 'I be employed, thevlatter beingfse'cured to thel door proper andelcment 43 by the same Said angle 45 has one of its ilanges 47 extended inwardly across the edges of the sheets and beyond the rear edge of the element 43, and is preferably in engagement with the latter so as to act as a buffer when the door is vopened against rthe usual'door stops. With this construction, it will be apparent that the rivets 46 are placed under double shear,

thereby adding greatly to the lstrength and preventing tearing out of the rivets or the sheet metal. p A

Referring next tothe lap joints between the panels, asbest illustrated'in Figure 2, the upper panel ofeach pair will be slightly offset as indicated at 48, in an amount corresponding tothe thickness or gauge of the sheet metal employed. Below the offset 48, the panel isextended vertically for a dis-r tance as indicated at 49 and is then bent outwardly and downwardly, as indicated at 50, and finally terminates in a wide Aflat liange 51 in a plane parallel tothe. main' or original. plane of the sheet, said liange 51 being flush with the topsy lof* the several iro horizontaland vertical corrugationsgof the door. The upper portion'of the lower of each adjacent pair of panels, has the uppermost horizontal corrugation thereof formed with a flat crest, indicated at 52,. The sheet is then bent inwardly and upwardly, as indicated at 53, and terminates in afwide vertical liange 54, in the original plane of the sheet, the upper edge of which is riveted to the offset portion 48-49 of the next upper panel, asY by rivets 554-55. of the outwardly offset flange 51 of the upper panel is riveted, as indicated at 56', to the Halt crest ofthe corrugation 52. In this connection,it will be understood that, near the vertical edges of the door, the upper portion, of eachof the panels 25y and 26 will be The lower edge conformed to fit the vertical corrugations, as indicated at 57-57 in Figures 3 and 4.

With the form of lap joint for the panels, above described, it is evident that a box girder construction is obtained of parallelogram vertical cross section, which providesgreat strength against collapse or bending in any direction. Another important result flowing from the improved box girder construction is that a considerable variation in the over-ail height of the three secured panels is obtainable, without change of dies. By varying the width of the flanges 51 and 54 at each joint, which can be donewithout changing or adjusting the dies that form the corrugations and the osets 49, 50 and 51, the size of be varied, as will be understood.

Heretofore, with the ordinary type, `of plane lapped joint in the original plane of the sheets, increases in the width of the marginal portions of the panels which are lapped, obviously increase the distancebe- .strength of the tween those horizontal corrugations immediately above and below the joint, thereby weakening the door at this area, whereas due to the box girder formation herein described, variations in the width. ofthe flanges 51 and 54 does notaffect the joint. The less the over-all height of the door, the nearer together are the inclined sections 50-53 of the joint with a consequently smaller section modulus for the girder section and as the over-al1 height is increased, the farther apart are the in-` clined sections 50 and 53 with a corresponding increase in section modulus for the girder formation. j

As shown, the door is of the bottom hung type, each of the rollers y58 riding on a track 59, which is secured, at intervals, to supporting brackets 60 riveted to the side sill 23. `To prevent the lower edge of the door swinging out, each of the roller brackets 31 is preferably provided with hook formations 61, engaging beneath the depending outer flange 62 of the track, Vas best shown in Figure 2.

To provide an effective weather seal for' the bottom edge of thedoor, the followingV arrangement is employed. The threshold plate 14 (see Figure 2) is extended around the floor boards 22, as indicated at 63 and is then extended horizontally inwardly, as indicated at 64, thence vertically downward, as indicated at 65, thence horizontally outward, as indicated at 66, and finally to the dependingV vertical flange 67, by

which it is secured to the bracket 60, prefj' erably by the same rivets which attach thev track 59. As will be evident, the longitudinally extending sectionsv 64,65 and 66 form a horizontally extending channel or groove opening horizontally outwardly, the

upper wall 64 of which is disposed'flush the box girder formation may y j -merely illustrativev and I contemplate all changes and modicationsthat come-within with the lower edge proper' 68' of# the door# Said channel 'provides an air pocket extend-J ingA` the-full width of the^ door 'when'in" closed position, f so `that,l when .anyl rain, sleetor 'other foreign matter is driven. horizontally below theedge of `the door intov said channel or pocket, the momentumof said rain, snow, sleet or the like will be immediately destroyed and .thef same will* fall down by gravity onto the lowerwall `66 of the'channel and then drain `0,..as

will be evident, and alllas' moreffullydescribedfin my said applicationglSer'ial No; 461,976.. w f i i i f "'f-Ifhave lherein 'shown'.l and I described what I. now consider, ther-.preferred `manner of carryingout my invention,but the same Lis the scope of the claimsappended heretopl4 'JIcl-aim: f u l 1.1I In a door of the class lincludingaplui fedges,said means including: a iiange on onefpanel` offset to one side of the main 'plane of4 said panelfandan' offset to the same side on thev adjacent "panel located iny wardly from the being secured to said oset of'thefsecond Vnan'iedrpaneland the. edge of the second Anamed panel beyond said offset thereof bejsecured to the v mainportion of said firsty j edgefof `the last named j, i. j l panel, thefla'nge of therst named .panell y ,Y

named panelwherebyfto'provide-a box girder v lap vjoint 'between the panels,V

2. 1n a door .of thefclassl ncluding a plurality of sheet metal panels disposed one above theother withfthe main portionsv thereof located in substantiallyljthe.same

plane Vandlhavin'gv horizontally extending corrugations incorporated ink the panels;

along their adjacent horizontal edgeseach, of said panels having horizontallyrextending corrugations formed therein, therupper ofvtwo adjacent panels having its lowermost portion, therein, extended` rst outwardly and then downwardly in a plane parallel to but offset from the main plane of the panel, saidj downwardly extended portion being securedloV .y A i* below the lowermost corrugation Y11o l means for uniting the panels along their j adjacent edges, said means including an voifset fiange on one of the panels secured to Y to the crestof the uppermost horizontal corrugation in `the lower of the two panels, the lower ofthe two panels having its upper l portion, above its uppermost horizontal corrugation, extended upwardly andvsecured to the upper of the two vpanels' above the outwardly oliset portion thereof, whereby7 to orm` a box girder joint the cross section modulus of which may be proportioned to 10 the ,distancebetween the horizontal corrugations of the two panels onopposite ysides ofthe box girder.

4. The herein described improvement in doors constructed in part vof sheet metal panels having corrugations therein parallel to the joint betweenthe panels and wherein the corrugations are all V,oset tothe same side of the main plane of the `panel sheets,

- comprising: an edge portion .of one panel' sheet extended first outwardly from the main plane of the panel sheet to the same side as the corrugations therein and then extending in a flat marginal portion parallel to the main .plane of thefsheet; a .flat marginal portion on the adjacent panel sheet in substantially .the same plane as the main portion of said sheetand disposed outwardly beyond the adjacent corrugation therein;

Y means rigidly uniting said marginalportion of the second named sheet' andthe irst named panel sheet nsubstantially the main plane of the latter; and-means rigidly unit ing the edge of the rst named panel sheet n" to the crest of said' corrugation of the sec- Y '35 ond knamed panel sheet, whereby, the cross section. modulus of. the box girder joint thereby formed may be varied to correspond with the distance between the adjacent corrugations of the two panels by vvarying the 40 width of said marginal portions.

In witness that. I claim; the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed myname this 23rd yday ofFebruary, 1931.

FRANK DITCHFIELD. 

